One Night
by celticgothhardy
Summary: It was the night that the separation between the worlds was at its lowest. A Halloween story. :


Disclaimer: I do not own CSI NY.

--

"Mac, come on. Everyone else is going. Great time to get out, meet a girl."

"I had a girl, Reed. She left me for her family in England," Mac Taylor explained to his over enthusiastic late wife's son. He sat in his office, listening to all the excuses that Reed could muster about going to a reputed haunted house.

"Good time as any to find another. Come on, Mac," he begged.

"I'm on call tonight."

"I have that all set up. Danny and Hawkes are going to stay around for any cases that Stella can't get to. Please," he tried once more, throwing in a face that made him revert back ten years.

"You act like a child." Mac grabbed his coat, which led Reed to throw a little dance until Mac threw an arm around his neck. "Almost 24 years old and you're still a kid."

"Only around Halloween, Mac. Rest of the time, I'm an adult."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

--

The house already had several people standing in front. Reed placed himself at the back of the group. Mac hung a little more back. Someone stood next to him as they listened to the host of the house talk about the history. "It's good to see you again," the person said. Mac turned to see Claire. "Wait, it can't be," he thought.

"How…" he whispered before she kissed him. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close, allowing something to come out that should have come out years ago. Tears.

"Today is the day that the separation between the worlds is at its lowest. Come on," she said, taking his hands and leading him inside the house.

Reed noticed Mac coming in with someone. "Mac, I didn't think you would…" he stopped after seeing her face. He couldn't take it in. It was the face that he saw from the photos he looked to whenever he needed comfort, guidance. "Mom?"

"Yes, honey." She pulled him into a hug and held him for a couple of minutes before she settle for an arm around each of her men. Reed was wiping away tears and Mac was forcing himself to keep his in.

"Maybe we should?" Reed pointed to the disappearing group. Mac laughed and Claire messed with his hair as they rejoined the group.

"Back in the 1800's, a man by the name of Samuel Underwood had a thriving business in the illegally exporting of certain alcohols across state borders. He was caught with absinthe after it was declared illegal and was fined for his crimes. At one point…" the host explained.

"It was mostly his wife that was the brains behind the smuggling. She got shot as her husband kept getting into the absinthe and had hallucinations about her being a demon," Claire whispered to both of them. Reed bent over to keep his laughing down while Mac smiled at the story.

The rest of the time in the house was Claire telling the actual stories of the ghosts that resided in the house. Reed got them kicked out after Claire talked about a particular ghost and how they died from a heart attack during a moment of passion.

As they walked out of the house, Claire started leading them down to the 9/11 memorial. "So, why did you choose reporter?" Claire asked Reed.

"Uncover the truth and give it to the people without bias."

"How's the lab?"

"Other than losing Aiden, the lab being broken into and the Cabbie Killer, I'd say we're pretty good." Reed turned away at the mention of the Cabbie Killer.

She noticed the movement. "What's wrong?" Reed tried to talk, but all that came out was a choking sound. "Honey?"

Reed looked at Mac. "I was an idiot. I should never have tried to use you and then you talked about the dead officer…" He was on the verge of tears. "They haunt me in my dreams. They blame me because I gave him an outlet, because I…" He collapsed on the edge of the sidewalk and started crying.

Claire sat down next to him and took one of his hands with one of hers. "Reed, look at me," she said. He turned to her. She saw all the pain he had hidden away, the guilt of using Mac, and the fear of not living right for her. She was going to tell him something, but the eyes told her that they would listen to nothing right now. She pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back while he let everything out. She felt Mac sit down behind them and pull her into his lap while putting another arm around Reed.

--

"This is my stop," Claire said, stopping in front of the 9/11 memorial. Reed was looking at the ground and investigating a very interesting pebble. "Reed," she stopped, bringing his chin for his eyes to meet hers, "Don't let Mac push you around too much. He's a big softie when it comes to people around him. And try not to repeat the Cabbie Killer. I don't want to see you too early."

"Yeah," he croaked. She pulled him into a hug which he accepted. "I love you, Mom."

"Oh, honey." She pulled back to see his eyes brimming with tears again. She kissed his forehead and wiped them away. "I love you, too." They just stared at each other for a moment before Reed went more to the memorial.

She turned back to Mac, who was staring straight back at her. "He acts like you. A lot at some points in time," he told her. She didn't acknowledge the fact and started kissing him. They lasted for a minute. "Are you sure you can't stay for a little longer?"

"If I remember, someone used the phrase you're still a kid?" Mac laughed as he remembered the words he told Reed that very night. "You really do need someone. You should try dating again. Maybe not someone like me, but someone like Stella?"

"You know my position on interoffice romance?"

"That didn't stop you with Peyton. Take a chance, Mac. You deserve it." She turned to start walking toward the memorial. "Be a good figure to Reed. He needs someone that can help him when his parents can't. Become a second father to him. Let him become the son we never got around to." Mac had an arm around Claire as they walked down near to where Reed was standing. Claire gave him one final hug and Mac one kiss. She stepped around the memorial and kept going into the wreckage until she disappeared.

"Come on, we have to walk back to the car," Mac said, putting an arm around Reed's shoulders and leading him out.

"You're going to need to explain one thing to me," Reed mumbled as they were out of the area.

"What's that?"

"Who's Aiden?"

"More like, who was Aiden?" Mac took a breath before going on with the story.

--

Sorry, I wanted to do a Halloween story and it kind of turned into this.

Read please. Review, pretty please.


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